Monday, October 31, 2011

Since it now appears, with the 2011 NFL season more than half over, that Randy Moss is truly retired, I decided to go ahead and finish off my "Second Series" of 1955 Topps All-Americans.

I consider the 100 cards that Topps issued in 1955 to be the First Series. I picked up the process in 2003 with my first All-American custom card, Peyton Manning of Tennessee, which I numbered 101.

Now, 100 cards later, I have completed the Second Series. I have long since produced cards numbers after #200 (what I'm calling the Third Series), but I had been holding the last slot, card #152, in my Second Series for Moss, waiting for him to call it a career so I could write a "final" biography for the back.

Actually, writing the 90-or-so words for the back was one of the more challenging bios I've done. Love him or hate him, Moss had a brilliant college and NFL career.

Here in Wisconsin, there is more than average animosity towards Moss. He was an integral part of the Vikings teams that usually dominated the Green Bay Packers around the turn of the century.

Moss further enraged Packers fans on Jan. 9, 2005, when his 34-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter sealed a Vikings victory over heavily favored Green Bay in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Moss poured salt in the wound in the end zone by pretending to drop trou and moon the Lambeau Field crowd.

Most of those who called for his suspension or expulsion from the league, if not his head, don't realize that Moss' mooning was a bit of an inside joke. For many years Packers fans have milled around the parking lot until the opposing team's buses pulled out after a game, then presented them with a moon en masse. The NFL fined Moss $10,000.

My 1955-style Randy Moss card is the first of perhaps half a dozen I'll create this winter, bringing me well into the Third Series.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

This is a listing that was prepared after thedeadline for the 2012 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It was intended for a future edition, in the Vintage Major League section of the book.

1889 Tobin Lithograph Baby Talk Trade Cards

The “Baby Talk Series” that was cataloged as H804-1B in the American Card Catalog is a specific subset of a larger body of similar issues issued between 1887-1889.

The principal distinguishing feature of this set is the appearance at lower-right of a name associated with the ball-playing baby pictured. Even within this series, there are variations, such as some cards having a copyright notice in the bottom-right border, while some do not. All have the number “5” in the lower-left border.

The 3” x 4-5/8” color lithographed cards were originally sold with blank backs. Some advertisers chose to print messages on the backs, others overprinted their sales pitch on the fronts. Dozens of different advertisers are known to have used these cards as a medium.

Those cards that have name references to well-known players of the era King Kelly and Cap Anson, are more highly sought than the others.

Retail value for the Anson and Kelly cards are about $900 in Near Mint, $450 in Excellent and $275 in Very Good.

Values for the other cards average about $600 NM, $300 EX and $175 VG.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I've completed my trilogy of Duke Snider custom cards with a creation in the style of 1955 Bowman.

Since his baseball card debut in the 1949 Bowman high-numbers, Snider appeared in every Bowman set through 1954, but he was absent from the final Bowman baseball set, the 1955 "Color TV" issue.

I think my version of a '55B Duke Snider card belatedly fills that void.

As of this posting, I have not yet printed the cards. I'm still dithering about which front to use. The smaller projection uses the background from the 1955 Bowman Frank Sullivan card. The larger projection repurposes the background of Brooks Lawrence's '55B. They are the same backgrounds I used in the two versions of my 1955 Bowman-style Sandy Koufax rookie customs.

The image of Snider swinging was lifted from an Upper Deck tribute card.

As football season is well under way, I really should be shifting my card-making efforts to some additions to my 1955 All-American updates and perhaps some other styles.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

This is a listing that was prepared after thedeadline for the 2012 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It was intended for a future edition, in the Vintage Major League section of the book.

1907 Detroit Seamless Steel Tubes Co. Ty Cobb Postcard

It is unclear whether this postcard of the budding Tigers star was a proprietary issue of a local steel company or a more generic postcard on which different advertising messages could be imprinted. The 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” black-and-white postcard has on front a full-length pose of Cobb, with a few biographical details. The back is pre-printed with postcard markings including a one-cent “stamp” and pictorial seal of the U.S.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

This is a listing that was prepared after thedeadline for the 2012 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It was intended for a future edition, in the Vintage Major League section of the book.

1963-64 Pittsburgh Pirates Picture Pack

This set of 5” x 7” black-and-white blank-back player pictures was created for sale at stadium concession stands and other souvenir outlets. The players are pictured in portraits or posed action photos, bordered in white. In the wide bottom border, the player’s name is printed in all capital letters, with the team nickname in upper- and lower-case letters. The set was sold in a white picture envelope. Because of the player selection, a specific year of issue cannot be pinpointed.

Common players in the set would have a retail value of about $4-5 in Near Mint. Mazeroski would be a $12-15 item, with Clemente at $40 or so.

Friday, October 21, 2011

This is a listing that was prepared after thedeadline for the 2012 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It was intended for a future edition, in the Vintage Minor League section of the book.

1907 Providence Grays Postcards

While it is reported that this postcard issue for the Class A Eastern League Providence Grays includes 18 players, the checklist is not known, though it certainly includes many of the former and future major leaguers who were on the team. These might include Harry Lord, Rebel Oakes, George McQuillan, Joe Harris and Bill Abstein.

The black-and-white cards are in about the standard 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” postcard size, with typical markings on back. Fronts have posed player photos and a credit line to “Walford of the Tribune.” The cards were published by J.C. & C.H. Seddon of Providence.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

This is the earliest of Signal Gasoline’s promotional efforts tied to their “home team” Oakland Oaks and the Pacific Coast League. The set features 24 black-and-white stamps in a size of about 1-5/8” x 2-2/3” that were designed to be placed into a 10-cent “Stamp Album and Autograph Book.” Each stamp features a player pose with his name and position in two lines in the bottom border.

Monday, October 17, 2011

My latest custom card is the second of what appears will be a trilogy of Duke Snider custom cards.

In the style of 1964 Topps, it pictures Snider with the San Francisco Giants, the team with whom he actually played in 1964. That was Snider last year as a player.

If Topps had scheduled Snider for one of the later series of 1964 baseball cards, he might have appeared as a Giant. But since he was slotted in at #155, in the set's second series, Topps had to run with a photo of Snider with the Mets.

After 16 seasons with the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers, Snider had been sold to the Mets just prior to the '63 season. He played 129 games for New York in 1963, the most in any season since 1957.

After just one year with the Mets, he was sold to the S.F. Giants on April 14, 1964. They released him after the season.

Snider rejoined the Dodgers' organization for 1965, as manager of their AAA Pacific Coast League team at Spokane.

I thought about making my Snider-Giants card in the 1965 format, to provide a career wrap-up with all of his MLB stats, but after kicking it around, decided to go with a 1964 style. In that era, Topps was never keen on issuing cards of players in the season after they retired,so that provided a good excuse to go with the 1964 version.

I also saved a lot of time using the 1964 format, since all I had to do is scan the back of a "real" 1964 Topps Snider and change the team name, logo and copyright information.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Through the efforts of several dedicated Cleveland Indians collectors, we were able to assemble checklist information on a number of the 1950s-1960s Picture Packs issued by the team.

It was intended that these appear in the 2012 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, but production problems precluded that.

To assist in this presentation, I've eliminated the pricing data. In general complete sets in this era have retail values of $100-150 in Near Mint condition, with single pictures about $5 for typical players and $12-20 for Hall of Famers and local favorites like Rocky Colavito and Herb Score, wit the 1957 and 1958 Roger Maris at $25.

1957 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack

This set of “Official Autographed Pictures” issued in 1957 was sold at Municipal Stadium and other souvenir outlets for 50 cents. The player photos are in a 6-1/2” x 9” black-and-white, blank-back format with narrow white borders, printed on thin semi-gloss stock. About half the photos are identical to those issued in 1956. A facsimile player autograph on front identifies the photo.

This set of “Official Autographed Pictures” issued in 1958 was sold at Municipal Stadium and other souvenir outlets for 50 cents. The player photos are in a 6-1/2” x 9” black-and-white, blank-back format with narrow white borders, printed on thin semi-gloss stock. A facsimile player autograph on front identifies the photo. The players were pictured in their new striped uniforms.

A continuation of the team’s tradition of issuing player picture packs, this set of “Official Autographed Pictures” issued in 1960 was sold at Municipal Stadium and other souvenir outlets for 50 cents, in a black-and-gold paper envelope. The player photos are in a 6-1/2” x 9” black-and-white, blank-back format with narrow white borders. A facsimile player autograph on front identifies the photo.

Complete Set: (23) (1) Ken Aspromonte (2) Gary Bell

(3) John Briggs

(4) Hank Foiles

(5) Tito Francona

(6) Joe Gordon

(7) Bob Hale

(8) Wynn Hawkins

(9) Woody Held (10) John Klippstein

(11) Harvey Kuenn

(12) Frank Lane (general manager)

(13) Barry Latman

(14) Mike Lee (15) Bobby Locke (16) Jim Perry

(17) John “Bubba” Phillips (18) Jimmy Piersall

(19) Vic Power

(20) John Romano

(21) Dick Stigman

(22) George Strickland

(23) John Temple

1961 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack

A continuation of the team’s tradition of issuing player picture packs, this set of “Official Autographed Pictures” issued in 1961 was sold at Municipal Stadium and other souvenir outlets for 50 cents, in a black-and-gold paper envelope. The player photos are in a 6-1/2” x 9” black-and-white, blank-back format with narrow white borders. A facsimile player autograph on front identifies the photo.

A change to a very thin paper stock with very little gloss marked the final Cleveland Indians picture pack of the era. This set of “Official Autographed Pictures” issued in 1962 was sold at Municipal Stadium and other souvenir outlets for 50 cents, in a black-printed manila paper envelope. The player photos are in a 6-1/2” x 9” black-and-white, blank-back format with narrow white borders. A facsimile player autograph on front identifies the photo.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

1929 Lindy Theatre Philadelphia A’sThis is one of several theater giveaways of the era capitalizing on the A’s consecutive American League Championships of 1929-1931. This series is in a 3-1/2” x 5-5/8” black-and-white format. Fronts have a player photo with his name (in all-capitals) and position (upper- and lower-case) at lower-right. Backs have details of coming attractions at the movie house, generally aimed at youngsters. The extent of the checklist for this set is not yet known.

This is one of several theater giveaways of the era capitalizing on the A’s consecutive American League Championships of 1929-1931. This series is in a 3-1/2” x 5-5/8” black-and-white format. Fronts have a player photo with his name (in all-capitals) at center. Backs have details of coming attractions at the movie house, generally aimed at youngsters. The extent of the checklist for this set is not yet known.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Among the several baseball related photographic cards produced by the Brooklyn studio of Joseph Hall was this series of individual player cabinets of the 1888-1889 N.Y. Giants. Approximately 4” x 6-1/4”, these cards were likely produced for sale to the public, though virtually every example known in the hobby today is unique. The card fronts have oval portraits of the players, with their name penned in below. In most cases the portraits are the same as those used on the S.F. Hess tobacco card set of 1889. The black-and-white backs of the cabinets have an engraving of Windsor Castle at top, with advertising for the studio below, all in an ornate border. This checklist is known to be incomplete.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

One of my favorite card show memories of the mid-1980s occurred at one of John and Wanda Marcus' Arlington, Tex., shows at which Duke Snider had been contracted as an autograph guest.

In the dealer hospitality room (I'll bet they don't have those at many card shows today) after the show closed on Saturday evening, Duke Snider strolled in, sat down and talked baseball for several hours.

Snider was a broadcaster with the Expos at the time. He was every inch the jovial "Silver Fox," and thoroughly captivated the baseball fans in the room. I had the chance to ask him about my then-favorite player, Expos catcher Razor Shines. I don't remember now what Snider had to say -- or, really, could have said -- about Shines, but I'll bet he tried his best not to cast him in any negative light.

Snider's appearance in the hospitality room that night stood in sharp contrast to how many, if not most, former major leaguers treated their card-show appearances in that era. Most guests wanted as little as possible to do with fan/collector interaction beyond what the terms of their signing contracts specified.

I guess that's why Duke Snider was among the most popular of the 1950s Dodgers, and remained so with an entirely new generation after his playing days. I believe his popularity will live on for a long while, even though he died earlier this year.

There was certainly no shortage of Duke Snider cards issued during and after his playing days. He appeared on Bowman cards every year from 1949-54, and on Topps cards 1951-52 and 1954-64. As a member of the popular Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers teams of the 1950s, he also appeared on many regional card issues from Red Man tobacco to Dan-Dee potato chips, Briggs hot dogs, etc.

Snider's days as an Expos coach, however, are marked only by a pair of cards in the 1975 SSPC collectors' issue -- until now.

The latest in my series of 1970s-1980s coaches custom cards adds to Duke Snider's legacy. It is based on a photo from the Topps archives. I could have chosen to work up the card in either the 1974 or 1975 style, since Snider was on the Expos' staff both seasons, in between stints as a Montreal broadcaster.

The other choice I had, was whether to use the "Edwin D. Snider" facsimile autograph that appeared on his Topps cards between 1952-59, or go with the "Duke Snider" signature that appeared on his Bell Brand snack chip cards of 1959-1962. You can see which way I fell.

My to-do list contains at least two more Duke Snider cards, a 1955 Bowman and 1965 Topps. I'm not sure whether these cards will get done in the very near future, or if I'll be switching gears to work on some football cards first. Keep watching this space.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Based on the selection of confirmed subjects, 1911 seems to be the best approximation for the issue date of this black-and-white, blank-backed strip card set. Similar in format and even typography to the set identified as 1915 W-UNC Strip Cards, the cards in this set were probably issued in a nominal 1-5/8” x 2” size, although significant differences in size are seen on the few known examples, possibly due to the manner in which they were cut. Fronts of the individual player cards have posed action photos with a black frame and bordered in white. Player identification is at bottom. The checklist here is certainly incomplete.

Monday, October 3, 2011

I never collected 1940 Play Ball baseball cards, so it's not surprising I wasn't personally aware of the Superman ad back variations, but I am surprised that in some 30 years of cataloging cards I don't recall anybody else ever mentioning them.

I was recently contacted by reader Mike Guluzzi who had seen a 1940 Play Ball card being offered on an internet sales site that was being hyped by saying it "is the first known example of a 1940 Play Ball baseball card with the very rare Superman ad back."

Guluzzi said he went through his own holdings of 1940 Play Balls and discovered several cards with and without the mention of Superman. Specifically, he mentioned that he has card #159 Frank J. Snyder with and without the Superman ad back. His inquiry was about the range of the Superman backs and whether the hobby considers a 1940 Play Ball set to be complete with one or both types of backs. He also inquired as to whether there is, or should be, a price differential.

Having no familiarity with these variations, I made inquiry on a vintage card collectors' forum and got some quick answers.

All cards in the numerical range of #123-180 can be found with two backs. One back has the common promotional message at bottom on back, "A pictorial news record of America's favorite sport. Save these cards . . . know all about the game and its prominent players. New pictures every year."

Each of those cards, however, can also be found with one of six advertising messages for Gum Inc.'s Superman gum cards. For reasons unknown, cards #121-122, which were printed on the same sheet(s) as #123-180, are NOT found with Superman ad backs. Only one of the various Superman ads is found on any particular card.(Editor's note: New information [Jan., 2015] shows that both cards #121 and #122 can also be found with the Superman advertising on back.)

More experienced collectors than I indicated that while the Superman version of any particular player's card is noticeably scarcer than the "pictorial record" version, premiums seldom rise to more than about 5-10% higher.

Most hobbyists would contend that a complete set of 1940 Play Balls would include just one each of cards #123-180, without regard to which back appears. A "master set," however, would require both versions of those cards.

These variations should be noted in future editions of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Uncommon commons: In more than 30 years in sportscards publishing I have thrown hundreds of notes into files about the players – usually non-star players – who made up the majority of the baseball and football cards I collected as a kid. Today, I keep adding to those files as I peruse microfilms of The Sporting News from the 1880s through the 1960s. I found these tidbits brought some life to the player pictures on those cards. I figure that if I enjoyed them, you might too.

I don't know why it grabbed my attention, but something that I read in a late-1960 issue of TSN caught my eye.

It was a short mention of the Milwaukee Braves' purchase of back-up catcher Dick Brown from the Chicago White Sox on Nov. 28. I probably took notice because I don't remember Brown ever appearing on a baseball card with the Braves.

Turns out there was good reason for that . . . about a week after the Braves acquired Brown, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers along with Billy Bruton, Chuck Cottier and Terry Fox for Frank Bolling and (a year later, as "the player to be named later") Neil Chrisley.

Or maybe I took note of the transaction because of what TSN's Milwaukee beat writer Bob Wolf had to say about the purchase. Talk about being underwhelmed . . . Wolf wrote, "chances are that (Brown) will prove a thoroughly adequate No. 2 man to Crandall."

As it developed, the Braves were wise to be seeking a backup for their long-time star catcher; Crandall played only five games behind the plate for Milwaukee in 1961 due to an injured shoulder. The Braves filled the void by bringing up 19-year-old Joe Torre.

As a kid scouring wax packs in the 1950s and early 1960s for Braves' cards, it was always fun to see who Topps thought might be the next Milwaukee catcher. We enjoyed a parade of guys like Sam Calderone, Charlie White, Jack Parks, Bob Roselli, Del Rice, Hawk Taylor, Stan Lopata and Charlie Lau.

Another great line from Bob Wolf was found a couple of weeks later, in his account of the Dec. 15, 1960, trade of Braves' pitchers Juan Pizarro and Joey Jay to the Reds for Roy McMillan.

Wolf described Pizarro and Jay as pitchers of "perennial promise."

Dick Brown had a nine-year career in the majors between 1957-65, batting .244 lifetime. He had only one season, 1962 with the Tigers, when he caught in more than 100 games.

About Me

I have been a baseball card (and other bubblegum cards) collector since the age of three. I am the former editor and publisher of the sportscards and memorabilia periodicals and books at Krause Publications (SCD, et al). I am the former editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.